The USA Patriot Act, or "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" is an act of congress that was signed by President George W. Bush in 2001. This act was met with strong support and passed the house of representatives 357 to 66 and the Senate 98 to 1. This was largely due to the public's reaction of 9/11, and many believed that a stronger stance against terrorism was required. This act involved 10 major titles, which increased funding for anti-terrorism, allowed wire, oral and electronic monitoring for evidence of crimes such as terrorism and computer fraud, and a roving warrant. A roving warrant allowed the investigators to use the same warrant to search all phones, emails, and any other information a suspected individual might have instead of getting multiple warrants. It also involved a prevention of money laundering to finance terrorism and various different rules in order to strengthen the ability for law enforcement to investigate suspected terrorists.
This bill was surrounded by controversy long after it was passed. Many argued that the politicians who supported the bill did not even read the act, and instead merely voted to pass it simply because of the aftermath of 9/11. Others said that the bill, which allowed the monitoring of suspected terrorists without a warrant, was a violation of their fourth amendment rights. The use of wiretapping by the FBI is strongly criticized since it gives them free reign to monitor almost anyone they want. Another major point that received public outrage was the FBI's subsequent ability to collect personal information such as email, phone number, healthcare data, and financial data without a court order. It was reported that they had millions of people's personal data. Overall, it seems that the bill greatly limited the freedoms of the general public in order to crack down on terrorists.
Regardless of the controversy, the bill was resigned in 2005, and again by President Obama. Obama renewed three of the same criticized topics, including wiretapping, seizure of personal data, and the monitoring of non-American suspected terrorists. The bill is still currently in action and will continue to do so until at least 2019.
https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
https://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/
https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/3162
https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/usa-patriot-act
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ReplyDeleteGood job on the post Alan. I liked how you picked a relevant topic to write about since this bill still affects us today. The collection of personal data and information is an extremely sensitive topic, explaining the controversy surrounding the bill. The bill may help crack down on terrorism, but it also does violate peoples' rights to privacy. Overall, it seems that that there isn't really a way that a bill like this could be perfect, and that we have to pick between less privacy and less security.
Thanks for writing about this important act which is still relevant today. While it seems clear that this is infringing upon certain rights of the people, the reason many might accept it is because of the need to fight terrorism. It seems that people are willing to give up rights to gain security.
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